Homes burn as Saddleridge Fire spreads near Los Angeles
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A quick-moving wildfire is churning through the foothills of Southern California, forcing local authorities to issue mandatory evacuations in the San Fernando Valley north of Los Angeles.
Officials said one civilian man had died of cardiac arrest, which they attributed to the Saddleridge Fire. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
Some 23,000 homes and some 100,000 residents were under mandatory evacuation orders on Friday morning and should not expect the orders to be lifted for at least a few days, department officials said.
The blaze, which officials have named the Saddleridge Fire, ignited late Thursday in the city of Sylmar. By Friday morning, it had torched more than 7,500 acres, according to the latest alert by the Los Angeles Fire Department.
At least 25 structures have been destroyed and more property assessments are planned throughout the day. And an estimated 23,000 homes are underestimated mandatory evacuations.
A large air tanker drops fire retardant on the Saddleridge Fire in Sylmar, California. EPA-EFE/CHRISTIAN MONTERROSA
LAFD reports the fire is at 13% containment, with more than 1,000 firefighters assigned to combat it. Personnel from the Los Angeles Police Department, Los Angeles County Fire Department and U.S. Forest Service are on the scene, helping with the effort.
Authorities were also fighting overnight to contain the Sandalwood Fire in Riverside County, which had scorched about 820 acres near Calimesa, about 70 miles east of downtown Los Angeles.
